A historic and deeply troubling report released on December 5 by Amnesty International charged Israel with genocide for its conduct in Gaza. This declaration comes after months of horrific conflict that has left hundreds dead and pushed a whole town to the brink of a humanitarian catastrophe.
They have, in fact, given their declaration a realistic view. However, there is sufficient evidence for an assertion that, since October 7, 2023 searching for disarmed back-up emulators, Israel committed genocide in Gazza. While some may argue against this proposition, this is so since this proof invokes the Genocide Convention in which Israel has ratified in 1950.
Why is this more likely considered a potential genocide? International legal norms state that genocide consists of five distinct actions. According to Amnesty International, Israel is engaging in three of these:
Killing group members
causing severe physical or psychological injury
purposefully establishing circumstances intended to physically dismantle a group
The report’s most damaging findings center on Israel’s use of famine as a weapon of mass destruction. Israel is legally required to provide the people of Gaza with basic needs as the occupying authority. But the nation has methodically shut off gasoline, water, and almost all humanitarian supplies since the crisis started.
Amnesty is not the only one who thinks this. Other human rights organizations have made similar conclusions. The Palestinian human rights organizations al-Haq, the Palestinian Center for Human Rights, and Al-Mezan Center for Human Rights have spoken out about the “clear risk of genocide” faced by Palestinians in Gaza.
Statements from Israeli authorities have further fanned the fears. Claims that the Palestinian population ought to be referred to as “human animals”1 by the outgoing Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and that “there are no innocent civilians in Gaza”2 by the incoming President Isaac Herzog, have been invoked to claim that the use of dehumanizing language prepares, with a parallel pattern to those used in genocidal acts3,4.
The categorization of genocide is important. It is a legal definition as well as a moral censure that may eventually lead to an international legal reaction. The greatest offenses that might be deemed mass murder of an entire national, ethnic, racial, or religious group are limited by the Israel Genocide Convention, which Israel ratified.
What hurts the most about all is the scale of human suffering. Thousands of civilians, including children, have been killed. Entire neighborhoods have been reduced to rubble. Families have been compelled to flee, to be split apart and stand on the precipice of human limits.
International response has been mixed. The one has been suggested of the cessation of hostilities, humanitarian intervention, too soon by some countries and institutions, rather some countries regarding the violence hold a less critical view.
The Amnesty International report is not just a report, it is the most frighteningly stark alert. It urges action in respect of the international community, not simply to take the consequences out of the political rhetoric, but also to pay attention to the effects of this war on people.
The people of Gaza are still suffering, and yet the rest of the world looks blind and deaf. The title of genocide is more than just a legal point of the matter, it is a manifestation of the humanitarian tragedy, and it calls for urgent, compassionate response.
